Pattern Of Psychiatric Referrals To Psychiatric Unit In A Tertiary Care Medical College

Introduction: Psychiatric illness have high comorbidity with other disorders. Referred cases from other departments are the major source of patients to the psychiatry unit. Stigma regarding psychiatry illness, lack of awareness, lack of interaction with other department may influence referrals.
Methods: The study population included all the out patients who were referred for psychiatric consultation from other departments of the hospital over a period of eight months. Data which was related to socio-demographic profile, source of referral, and the psychiatric diagnosis were recorded and analyzed by using descriptive statistical methods.
Results: A total of 131 patients were referred for psychiatric consultation, with a referral rate of 1.8%. A majority of the psychiatric referrals (38.2%) were from the department of medicine followed by neurology (23.7%). The most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders were neurotic disorders.
Conclusion: The rate of psychiatric referrals was gloomy. Along with awareness education to the patient, there is need of frequent interaction with other department in form of case conference, group interaction etc.